


Make You Feel My Love

by rainbowslovehl (Larrymateforlife)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Christmas Tree, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mistletoe, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Louis, basically all the christmas tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-19 10:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17000025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larrymateforlife/pseuds/rainbowslovehl
Summary: “That’s a great idea, Niall,” Harry said loudly, finding his friend in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand. “Mistletoe is perfectly harmless and festive. My mum never hung that in our house so it just slipped my mind but I can do that. For the Christmas party we’re throwing, I can just hang mistletoe where it’s most likely I’ll catch him. It will be like oops look we’re caught under the mistletoe together and then oops we have to kiss. And then I’ll be like oops, baby I love you!”“Yeah please stop misquoting Little Mix, Harry,” Niall said, shaking his head in disappointment. Harry huffed, obviously thinking it was a great reference.Harry decides the best way to go about telling his best friend that he's in love with him is to catch him under a conveniently placed mistletoe but that's not what happens.





	Make You Feel My Love

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw this one particular [ post ](http://goldbootsandvans.tumblr.com/post/177025056443/missandrogyny-paynner-paynner-why-isnt-it) and number seven got inspired to write this fic even though I wasn't actually planning to write a Christmas fic this year. The prompt just called to me and well, here we are.  
> A lot many thanks to my beta, Helena and to Ammu, who's been patiently waiting and cheering me to the end.  
> Title is from Adele's song of the same name.

**Week One**

Christmas was Harry’s favourite holiday as a kid. His favourite time of the year as well.

The month of December always carried a distinct cheer in the air, had everyone smiling with the delight of the approaching holidays. He loved the promise of receiving gifts, loved picking out the perfect presents for his family and friends as he grew up and loved the resultant joy on their faces as they unwrapped the said gifts.

When Harry was fourteen, he decided to bake gingerbread cookies for the entirety of December. It was a snap decision, something he wasn’t planning to make a tradition but it did soon become one. It might be his best decision ever. There were plenty people to give to and Harry would make two batches of cookies per day and barely ate one of it. His cookies were very much loved, and he wasn’t judged for his obsession with baking. Who would complain when they have a cookie in their hand, right? Harry liked decorating the Christmas tree each year as well, taxing as it was, but the result was worth it. He also liked bundling up in warm clothes, sitting beside the fireplace and drinking hot cocoa with his best friend.

But if he had to pick the best part of Christmas, he would have to say it was his best friend himself that he loved most.

Harry would be lying if he didn’t mention he liked the holiday solely because of Louis. He loved how happy Louis got in the month of December, bouncing off the walls and brightening up the room. He insisted that Harry partake in appreciating the said activities and not shy away. And Harry was eighteen when he realised that the only reason he loved Christmas so much was because of Louis, who was the actual one in love with the holiday. Harry just loved Louis.

Louis and Harry grew up together, having a friendship that spanned the entirety of their eighteen years of existence. Harry was hopelessly infatuated with the bubby boy next doors since the time he remembered and was intent to follow through with everything he ever said. When they were kids, Louis used to think that Christmas was celebrated for him exclusively since he was born on Christmas Eve. And since Harry believed everything Louis said, he used to believe that too. They decorated their joint Christmas tree since they were both seven, with Harry’s mother as the adult supervising it. And Harry loved how the lights twinkled back in Louis’ eyes.

There was a bounce in Louis’ steps as he bounded up to Harry’s house to load up on the cookies that he baked. He complimented Harry plenty and sometimes even placed a kiss on his red cheeks. Even when they were fifteen, since Louis was never the one to shy away from showering affection. Of course then Harry hadn’t realised then that the accelerated heartbeat and the swoop in his stomach had been due to the love for his best friend. He just kept baking cookies for Louis each day and it was sort of their tradition. So when sixth form ended, Harry didn’t want to end the routine the two of them had fallen into. Sure they were going to move in together in a flat in London, but he was afraid it would change everything and he was determined not to. It was then that he began thinking what he was afraid of, and it didn’t take him long to realise he was in love.

The panic that followed over the realisation ensured until December; seeped into the joy he felt for Christmas and coloured it with a shade of anxiety over his actions. He was afraid Louis would catch on to his affections and push him away. But apart from that, nothing about their December routine changed. Just Harry became more aware of how he felt for the boy he shared his entire childhood with and currently lived with. And understood why he did what he did.

Louis was completely clueless about Harry’s internal turmoil. He wore funny looking, oversized jumpers that year as well, looking cuddly and cute in their flat. Harry often felt the need to wrap him in a hug, keeping him close and refusing to share Louis’ smile with the world. It was too bright in general and especially after he saw the cookies Harry had baked in a refusal to break traditions.

“You’re too precious, Harry,” he had said before biting into a cookie, the crumbs falling all over his chin and jumper. Harry smiled softly as he reached out to dust off the crumbs that fallen. His fingers lingered on Louis’ bulged cheeks a little longer and unintentionally, making Harry sigh internally. Why was it so hard to be in love with his beautiful best friend, who also showered him with multiple compliments? Why did his said best friend have to be so goddamn nice and cute? Not to mention fit and handsome. “And these cookies taste like heaven on my tongue. You’re invaluable. I’m glad I chose to live with you.”

 _So hard_ , Harry repeated in his head, looking away swiftly with flaming cheeks and a small smile. “Thank you, Lou. I’ve also made them in the shape of a gingerbread man, just the way you like.”

“Best friend ever!” Louis yelled and cheered before bursting into laughter. The sound of Louis’ laughter filled Harry’s insides with fondness and warmth, along with the heavy dread. _Best friend_ , that’s all he would ever be. But Louis was so precious, and the love Harry felt for him temporarily numbed the hurt his words caused.

And that was just how the first week of December had gone by. Harry wouldn’t say it was any different, but did feel more giggly. Especially when Louis did... well anything. It was fun.

**

 

**Week Two**

In the second week of December, Harry was just about ready to scream loudly because of his distress. But he couldn’t do that since the walls were thin, besides the neighbours, along with Louis would misinterpret the nature of the scream. And Louis would certainly be concerned and question, which Harry did not want to go through.

It had been a whole week of soft looking Louis, clad in oversized ugly Christmas jumpers (that he somehow managed to look good in) waking up early for Uni. He greeted Harry each morning with half droopy eyes and a lopsided smile with sweater paws as he made tea for both of them. While Harry did consider himself a morning person, there was no way his brain was alert enough to deal with that cuteness. So he usually excused himself and screamed into his fist, desperately wanting more courage to come out and confess his feelings to Louis. Sure, it always worked out perfectly in young adult books and rom-coms but that didn’t mean it would work out for him too. In there, there was less agony and more reciprocal feelings and the story played over for just a handful of hours with a guarantee of a happy ending. There was no such guarantee in real life and Harry hated that. So he just resorted to watching the said rom-coms with his best friend and cried over it too, cuddled into Louis’ side and hoping he would just read his mind. He also wondered what would happen if it did work out, magically. What if Louis did like him back in just that way? But then, Louis had never hinted or said something that affirmed his feelings and Harry never asked, because he was pathetic.

“He has a late shift today and I just – I just miss him,” Harry finished his monologue and punctuated it with a sigh, expecting pity from Niall, his relatively new, Uni friend. Harry was lounging on Niall’s bed on his stomach, head propped up on his palms and feet swinging up in the air behind him. Niall had asked him twice already if the position was comfortable enough to him, since he was convinced it didn’t. To that Harry had plainly answered that gays never sit straight so he was fine this way. He was living all the stereotypes and clichés after all. Talking to Niall came easy. The lad had move to London from a small town in Ireland and had manage to befriend Harry on the first day, eventually meeting Louis and introducing them to Liam. Liam was sort of, well, judgemental and worrisome in a good way. The four of them formed a small clique that met at least once each week, usually during weekends for karaoke or movie night or Fifa. Harry loved their little group.

Harry knew it wasn’t wise to burden a new friend with his nonexistent love life on a Friday night. But then, Niall was the only one he could talk to about this. There was no one else to listen. His childhood friends would tease him incessantly and he couldn’t talk to Louis for obvious reasons. Liam was a worrywart, so he was out of consideration. While Niall usually seemed willing to listen, right now he just wasn’t. He had been hassled looking and inattentive the whole night.

“Oh for fuck’s sake Harry!” Niall exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. He had been digging through his closet looking for clothes suitable for his date... oh right that's why Harry had been called here. To help Niall out getting dressed for his date. Oops, he had almost forgotten about that. No wonder his friend was annoyed and stressed tonight. Harry was about to apologise for his monologue when a ball of cloth came flying at him, missing his face by just a little and he frowned instead. “Don’t give me that look. You very well know that you deserved a shirt in your face to shut you up a while ago. I called you here for advice on clothes and you’ve been on about Louis for the past fifteen minutes without a break in the middle. How do you do that? No you know what, I don’t want to know. Just keep quiet and nod or shake your head when I hold up an outfit.”

Niall gave him a pointedly look before shaking his head in exasperation. He picked up a black, striped shirt and flattened it across his torso, looking at Harry questioningly. The latter dutifully nodded but his eyes did acquire a distant look.

“Louis used to love wearing striped shirts. He still does, but not that much anymore.”

“Oh no, spare me that,” Niall said and threw his head back to groan. Harry grimaced apologetically. To be honest, he was being a little too whiny that night so he couldn’t blame the other boy. Niall levelled Harry with a glare as he took off his current shirt and put on the striped one, as if daring Harry to speak about it. Harry didn’t say a word about it, even if he was thinking incessantly about stripes and Louis. And Louis in stripes. That was such a great era that he had sadly taken for granted. “It has just been a stream of ‘ _Louis this’_ and ‘ _Louis that’_ with you tonight. The moment I mentioned I have a date at eight, you started talking about how you wanted Louis to take you out on a date instead. And then it’s been whining about Christmas and realisations and what not. Nothing I haven’t heard before and nothing I mind usually, but right now Harry, it’s adding to my anxiety about this damn date. What if she hates me?”

“She won’t hate you Niall, come on, you’re adorable,” Harry assured him quickly as he shot him an encouraging grin, complete with award winning dimples and a tilt of his head. Niall’s face remained scrunched up in a frown despite that. Louis always said that Harry was great at cheering people, while Harry knew Louis was great at motivating people. They were a great team when trying to encourage someone. It was just a damn shame that the one person who desperately needed motivation was Harry and he couldn’t ask Louis for help.

“I want to be more than just adorable!” Niall whined and stomped his way to the small mirror in the room like a child. Harry eyed him carefully, contemplating what would be the most appropriate thing to say at that moment. But then Niall picked up a bottle of hairspray to style his hair and it was a lost cause. Harry reminisced the way Louis styled his hair, all artful swirls and skilful fingers with his wrist flicking out daintily ever so often. And Harry smiled at the mattress, choosing to keep quiet lest he ranted about Louis’ beauty again. He had a feeling it wouldn’t go so well with Niall this time. “How do I look? Tell me if I look hot, as a gay man.”

Harry rolled his eyes and snorted. That was slightly offensive. “You will always look just _adorable_ to me, Niall but I think she will be blown away by your hotness. Go, get in!”

“Thanks mate,” Niall said and beamed. Harry winked at him for good measure, keeping mum as his friend walked into the bathroom then out a few minutes later. If Harry wasn’t mistaken, his cheeks were rosy with a touch of makeup but he didn’t comment on it. He looked much more cheery and much less anxious, with one hour to his date and Harry wondered if he was allowed to talk about Louis again. Niall probably caught on to his thoughts as he rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Alright out with it. Do you miss Louis again?”

Harry nodded glumly, feeling like a child wanting to be consoled by an adult. “A lot.”

“Boy you’re very mope-y despite the fact that you realised you’re in love with him like months ago.” Niall chuckled to himself, sitting beside Harry on the bed. His fingers came to sift comfortingly through Harry’s hair, and the latter shut his eyes and sighed softly. “I hate to think what will happen in a few more months if this continues. But mate, why don’t you just confess to him about how you feel? I did the same and it scored me a date, so surely it wouldn’t be that hard.”

“It’s not the same for us,” Harry muttered, shaking his head slowly. He sighed once again. “She shared a few lectures with you at Uni and you knew her for mere few weeks before you asked her out. I have known Louis since I was born probably, and I’ve spent every moment of my life with him. Asking out that kind of a person is nerve-wracking. I can’t lose him.”

“You won’t lose him,” Niall said soothingly as he chuckled. His words possessed the confidence Harry didn’t have. “I have seen the way Louis looks at you, and I’ve known him for like three months ago. He looks at you like you’re his brightly lit Christmas tree, and that's a great analogy because of everything you’ve told me about Louis and Christmas. Trust me, I know a lovesick fool when I see one. So just take the leap, my friend and don’t be scared.”

“But I _am_ scared. What if I leap and he doesn’t catch me and I fall? I don’t think I can handle rejection from him.”

“That will break you, yes” Niall murmured, almost to himself. But Harry heard and frowned at him, starting to worry again. Niall was already shaking his head to deny. “No I don’t think he’ll reject you. It’s the worst case scenario, alright? Calm down. I have an idea. Let’s say – this is only hypothetical okay – what if you kissed him first and _then_ told him how you feel, based on his reaction to the kiss.”

Harry’s frown deepened as he thought it over. He couldn’t make sense of it and hence sat up properly to cross his arms over his chest. It still made no sense to him so he pouted at his friend and his terrible idea. “I don’t get it. I can’t tell him how I feel, but I should kiss him? Against his will? How will that work now, Niall?”

“Harry, it’s nearly Christmas.”

“I know that, Niall. That’s exactly why I’m so happy and sad. What's your point?”

Niall huffed. “Well, there’s a thing called mistletoe. It’s a tradition to kiss the person you find yourself under with.”

Harry huffed back. “Duh, Niall, I know what mistletoe is and... wait.” Niall was looking at him with raised eyebrows, as if waiting for Harry to catch up and yeah, he was still catching up. Mistletoe and kissing under the mistletoe and fuck that was a great idea. “Yes! You’re a genius.”

“Of course I am,” Niall said, grinning and nodding and generally looking amused at Harry’s reaction. He stood up swiftly and was out of the room without Harry realising, since he was deep in thought. By the time the idea had properly formed in Harry’s head – complete with the end reaction building up like a rom-com with Louis confessing he was in love all along – it had been two minutes. He blinked out of it and found the room empty, huffing before he walked out of the room.

“That’s a great idea, Niall,” Harry said loudly, finding his friend in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand. He frowned at the coffee, wondering if it was already made or he just made it in the time Harry was thinking. The latter option meant that Harry had zoned out too long and that wasn’t good. Besides was it a good idea to have coffee before dinner? Well he wouldn’t question that too. None of his business, none of his concern. “Mistletoe is perfectly harmless and festive. My mum never hung that in our house so it just slipped my mind but I can do that. For the Christmas party we’re throwing, I can just hang mistletoe where it’s most likely I’ll catch him. It will be like oops look we’re caught under the mistletoe together and then oops we have to kiss. And then I’ll be like oops, baby I love you!”

“Yeah please stop misquoting Little Mix, Harry,” Niall said, shaking his head in disappointment. Harry huffed, obviously thinking it was a great reference. Those girls were great artists and deserved international success. He leaned his hip against the counter and watched as Niall finished his coffee and placed the cup in the sink without pouring water in it or anything. It was one of Louis’ habits, and Harry was used to cleaning up after him so he kicked into action quickly. He hip checked Niall out of the way to wash the cup himself while Niall laughed. “Thanks for that, mate but I politely ask you to get your fucking arse out of here. I have a date to go on.”

“Well you did call me here before,” Harry pointed out, shaking his head as he willingly headed towards the door better. He needed to get going; Louis would be home soon. “So you need to treat me better than that.”

“Well next time, Harry, I’m not calling you,” Niall said bluntly, laughing at Harry’s hurt face and quickly followed him to the door as well. “Now bye, Harry, thanks for all your irrelevant talk. I’ll text you how the date goes.”

With that, the door slammed in Harry’s face and he glared at the person on the other side of it. After a few seconds of scowling, Harry left for the stairs, cursing his friend in his head. Sure Niall was a good friend otherwise; but Harry still didn’t deserve this treatment. Or maybe he did.

On his walk home, Harry passed a florist shop and stopped. After a painful long minute of debating, he decided it would be best if he picked out the mistletoe today instead of some day in the future. He could forget it the next day or all the shops could be closed from tomorrow until Christmas, who knew. There was even a possibility that he could be swept up in a blizzard, even if that was near impossible. Hence it was better to buy right now than postpone it onto tomorrow. Luckily when he asked the nice lady inside, there was mistletoe available even at the late hour. She winked at Harry when he bought a single rose on a whim, as if she was on to his romantic desires. His blush at her question might have given him away anyway.

By the time he reached his flat, he held another bag full of Christmas decorations along with plastic mistletoe. It was all bought on impulse and he was lucky he managed to find something cheap. He would have to use up the rest of his savings to buy a small, plastic tree tomorrow but anything for Louis. He wanted Louis to get the opportunity to celebrate Christmas for an extra week and wanted to see him lit up with joy, brighter than the Christmas lights themselves. Harry smiled just imagining the scene as he opened the door, rose held in one hand and bags slung over his shoulder. Louis was already home though, lounging on the sofa. There was a flash of worry on his face along with confusion, but when he saw Harry at the door, all of that wiped away to be replaced with a bright grin. Harry felt his heart stop for a second before starting to beat quicker than usual. That's what Louis’ smile did to him.

“I was so confused when I returned to an empty home,” Louis said sadly, pouting and unaware of what the word ‘home’ along with his pout did to Harry’s heart. He grinned bravely through it, as he shut the door behind him. He placed the bag by the sofa and twirled the rose between his fingers, uncertain of how to actually give it Louis. He noticed Louis’ eyes instantly narrow on the rose, face taking a dark expression as his lips pressed together. It looked scarily close to jealousy. It was sort of hot and Harry was very affected by that, he would admit. “What’s that in your hands? Who gave you the rose?”

“I, um actually,” he stuttered, eyes widening as a wave of anxiety rolled over him. It should be easy to say that he just bought it himself but then, his words were sort of stuck. His cleared his throat to free them and looked away from just a few seconds to gather his thought. The annoyance at someone else giving the rose to Harry was jealousy on Louis’ part, wasn’t it? It was a good sign. But did it mean Louis liked Harry back? He needed to get back to Niall on that. “I actually bought this. It’s from me?”

“From you?” Louis asked, a peculiar tilt to his words as his eyes darted to meet Harry’s. The dark look from earlier was completely gone except for the tightness of his jaw. Louis looked more confused now. Harry nodded hurried, his curls flopping and falling into his eyes and Louis smiled at that. Good progress, that.

“Yeah it’s from me,” Harry continued, ignoring the squeaky quality to his voice as he almost thrust the flower into Louis’ hand. He smiled shyly at him before turning on his heel and marching into the kitchen. Due to that, Harry didn’t see the resultant blush spreading on Louis’ cheeks, nor did he notice the awed look in his eyes. He was too busy hiding his own embarrassed face. He wished he wouldn’t get so awkward around Louis at times like this. “I bought this rose for you because I thought I should get you one. It looks like you.”

“Looks like me?”

“Yes?” Harry squeaked before clearing his throat. In his usual, deep voice he continued, “And I’m making tea. Do you want some?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Great!” Harry exclaimed loudly and rather unnecessarily as he busied himself with making tea. Thankfully Louis hadn’t ventured into the kitchen behind him and neither had he pestered for an explanation. Harry hid out in the kitchen until his face returned to its usual shade of pale and smiled as he handed Louis his cuppa. If Louis noticed Harry’s strangeness, he didn’t say a word about it, for which Harry was grateful. Louis always knew when to leave a particular topic alone, and knew when to question due to years of practise.

But Louis’ jealousy for earlier had given him courage to take a chance on ‘operation kissing under the mistletoe’. Surely Louis would push him away or anything and would kiss him back too.

Harry was now twenty percent sure it would end on a victorious note. That was twenty percent more than yesterday.

-

Harry hummed a tune under his breath, which he knew was of a popular song but was unsure as to which one it was. He had heard it on the radio that morning and all he remembered was the tune. He hated when that happened. He cut off his humming abruptly when the front door opened and smiled in the general direction of the door, even if the person wasn’t visible just yet. Just the mere indication of Louis being in the same space as him was enough to make him happy. Harry was just that whipped. It was a really wonder that Louis wasn’t clued in to his feelings. It would have made everything a lot easier for sure.

“Harry?” Louis called out as the door shut loudly behind him.

“In here!” Harry yelled back, giggling a little under his breath. The next moment he wanted to smack himself for being too obvious about his crush. He sighed despondently and kept his eyes on the pan in front of him. He stirred the contents instead of paying attention to the loud sounds that Louis made while moving around in the living room. It was easier said than done because Louis was a loud person – both in words and actions. His small feet made a lot of noise as they slapped across the floor when he walked and told Harry exactly where he would be. Like right now, Harry was fairly sure he was standing beside the couch due to the distinctive thud of a bag being dropped. Then loud footsteps headed towards the kitchen and Louis’ head peeked through in Harry’s periphery, as he stood there with his hands on his hips. Harry didn’t look up but smiled when he heard a disgruntled huff. Louis, at all times, needed a lot of attention and Harry was all too willing to shower it on him. But for some reason right now, he was withholding it.

Not getting attention just made Louis touchier than usual and he pressed himself against Harry’s side. His arm wrapped around Harry’s waist loosely and leaned his head against Harry’s shoulder. It was a testament to the closeness of their friendship that Harry didn’t even flinch. His hand stayed steady as he continued to stir. There were a few more minutes for the meat to cook now, so there were a few minutes to give Louis attention. “What are you making?”

“Spaghetti,” Harry answered even if the answer was very apparent and Louis already knew that. He stopped stirring and checked on the pot of spaghetti that hadn’t boiled properly yet. Then he looked at his best friend, who was now staring intently at the pot. Harry smiled and took the few seconds to take Louis in. His long eyelashes were brushing delicately against his cheekbones, eyebrows arched and smile widening the more Harry continued to stare. He was dressed in a white cable knit jumper that was big on his frame. Harry was pretty sure it was from his closet. The jumper was slightly too big on Harry himself, so Louis was positively swimming in it. He looked soft and fit at the same time, with the collar slipping off his collarbones when he shifted to take a better look at the spaghetti. Harry averted his eyes, not quite sure how he was even breathing at this point.

“It does smell good,” Louis said finally as he fell back into Harry’s side and grinned up at him. Harry grinned back; feeling slightly dazed still and diverted his attention quickly.

“Thank you. You’re back early.”

“Oh yeah.” Louis nodded and stepped away from Harry, to which he tried not to pout. He watched Louis unconsciously fiddle with his fringe, trying to fix it while smiling at Harry. He then blinked and frowned, looking over his shoulder and perplexed when he looked back at Harry. “Speaking of, why is there a tree in our living room?”

“A tree?”

“Yeah, like a two foot plastic tree,” Louis explained, hands moving to depict a tree. He took a few steps back so he could look into the living room. His eyes were shifty before he pointed to a spot outside. “It’s right there. I can see it.”

Harry blinked in confusion before he remembered. Oh right, the mini Christmas tree he had bought today. He had almost forgotten it. “Yeah that, I picked it on my way back from work. Weren’t you sad about not being able to decorate the Christmas tree, so I thought why not we do it here? It will be our mini celebration and we’re having that small Christmas party yeah, so I thought it would add to the theme. Besides, I felt our flat would feel left out if we don’t decorate a tree.”

Harry watched Louis with a coy face, making sure not to smile but it was hard not to when Louis burst into laughter. He curled into himself as his shoulder lifted as he laughed, hand coming to rest on his stomach. Harry felt proud of himself, pressing his lips together and just watched his friend fondly. “You’re something else Haz, I swear.”

Louis gently patted Harry’s cheek and the latter preened and leaned into the touch, which Louis grinned at.

“It’s cute,” Louis continued. His eyes were shining with something akin to fondness and Harry blushed immediately. He hid his resultant smile when he ducked his head before turning to check on the cooking food. He could feel Louis’ eyes on his face still, could see the soft expression in his eyes. And he felt flattered being the centre of all of Louis’ attention. “Anyway. I’ll go change into something comfy and come back to help you, alright.”

“Sure Lou, you do that,” Harry teased, winking at him, knowing Louis was just ducking out. Louis winked right back, to his surprise, and bit his lip. Harry didn’t look back at him but could feel his gaze, could feel his hesitancy. He was taken further by surprise when Louis pushed himself up his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Harry’s cheek before rushing out of the kitchen. Harry was left staring after him, well aware that the spot where Louis had kissed was now burning. His whole face was burning actually, and his heart was beating loudly with happiness thrumming in his veins. This was confusing, was the thing and that was because of Louis’ hesitancy. Cheek kisses were casual among them. Before Harry’s big realisation, he used to give them to Louis freely as well. His hesitancy had appeared with the realisation, so he wondered if it was the same reason with Louis. But then nothing else was indicative of a big realisation, since Louis always acted the same with him. So Harry didn’t want to get his hopes up unnecessarily.

Harry shook himself out of it fairly quick, running his fingers through his hair to calm himself. His eyes were focused on the cooking meat but his thoughts were far away. The spaghetti was almost done and the meat was getting about there. He immersed himself in food, something he found therapeutic. Some ten minutes later Harry was plating both of their dishes and humming the same familiar tune from earlier. He could hear Louis’ loud footfalls as he walked out of the shower and continued humming even louder to drown out his thoughts about a wet, naked Louis in just the other room. He could hear his every movement and boy was the lad loud. Louis walked back into the kitchen the minute Harry was retrieving the forks and was smiling cheekily.

“Something smells delicious,” Louis sang as he sniffed the air exaggeratedly and hummed. Harry barked a laugh even if it wasn’t funny because of course he did. Louis had changed into a soft looking shirt and joggers now, hair damn and sticking out at odd angles. Usually, he was very particular about his hair, either half an hour to style it right or hiding it altogether under a beanie. Harry considered himself lucky to be one of the few people who had ever seen messy haired Louis, who looked twice as adorable and twice as likely to keep fiddling with his hair. He loved fiddling with his hair and sometimes, his fingers found their way into Harry’s hair, much to his delight. “I am so ready to help you with cooking now.”

“Sure you are,” Harry teased him and laughed before motioning to their filled plates. Louis gasped dramatically and made half-hearted complains about how he could have made his plate himself. Then he valiantly said he would carry both their dishes and complained all the way to his living room how his fingertips were burning. Harry listened to him with a smile on his face and followed him out with two forks, very much endeared. Louis then insisted on choosing what they would watch and made a show of browsing various options on Netflix before settling on a Friends episode revolving around Christmas. It was so predictable that Harry burst into laughter. They mouthed along to the lines and Harry jabbed him on the side when Monica twirled the tree to display the perfectly decorated side. They had completely polished off their plates about three episodes later with Louis promising to wash their dishes alter and dumping them in the sink. He instructed Harry to not wash them quickly, to which he agreed. But within five minutes he was rushing into the kitchen to wash their plates and Louis just laughed, not moving from the sofa at all to assist. Typical.

“Later is never good enough for you, is it?” Louis countered when Harry complained about the same. “So how is it my fault?”

“Oh please everyone knows you’re waiting for me to break and wash your dishes for you. You never intend to clean them in the first place.”

“Well you would know what would actually happen if you could wait,” Louis yelled and Harry just smiled, hearing the cheekiness and lies in his words. “But you don’t wait.”

“Whatever you say, Louis,” Harry yelled back, laughing to himself. He heard Louis echoing his laughter outside. Harry smiled to himself as he wiped his hands on his shirt, padding out in the living room again. By now Louis had tilted to occupy the entirety of the sofa, eyebrows furrowed as he watched the episode they had watched a million times before. Harry cleared his throat loudly and Louis whipped his head towards him. “So I was thinking.”

“Yes, young Harold, please do say,” Louis said just for the sake of. He grinned cheekily when Harry scrunched up his nose and made a hand motion. “Okay, do continue.”

“I was thinking,” Harry repeated, lifting his chin before walking towards Louis. He poked Louis’ leg until he folded them to make enough space for Harry to sit. “That we should start the decoration of our tree tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Louis asked, shooting the tree a curious look. “Why?”

Harry shrugging, shifting so that he could lean back comfortably into the sofa. “I don’t know. It’s not like we’ll have enough time in the next week. We almost never have coordinated schedules lately and then we have to head home. We don’t have any obligations tomorrow because it’s Sunday. Besides, an undecorated tree feels sad.”

“Does it feel sad now?”

“Yes it does.” Harry nodded vigorously to support his argument, making his hair flop beside his head and Louis laughed. If Louis agreed to this, which Harry had a strong feeling he would, it would give him an excuse to decorate the whole flat. Which also included hanging up mistletoe on the doors and hallways and everywhere Harry could reach. It would also force Louis to kiss him, or at least peck his cheek in the passing. It was foolproof. “We don’t want this tree to feel sad and left out, do we? So are you in?”

“Hmm, let me think,” Louis said as he hummed in contemplation and tapping his chin for additional dramatics. There was no wonder Louis was studying drama and literature, as dramatic as he was. It was cute as well as exhausting. And right now he needed to move the conversation along, so Harry rolled his eyes and slapped his friend’s arm. Louis laughed. “Alright sure, I’m in. But I’m waking no earlier than eleven.”

“We have ourselves a deal,” Harry agreed, extending a hand for Louis to shake. Louis indulged him, even if looking amused and Harry’s grin was uncontrollably wide. Part one of his plan – which consisted of convincing Louis to decorate the tree – was a success. It was the easiest part of his three part plan. The next was to secretly hang up the mistletoe and the third would be to get Louis to kiss him under one. And then fall in love, which was a whole other plan.

Harry was ecstatic at the moment though.

-

Harry was excited on that Sunday morning. He woke up at eight am with a smile on his face and went out for grocery shopping first thing in the morning. Louis was still in bed, snoring away when Harry returned and he knew it wouldn’t be for long. He made eggs, waited patiently and as expected, the smell drew him out. It was only five minutes later that Louis padded into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and frowning. He had a ridiculous bed head, pillow creases on his cheeks and morning breath, yet Harry felt the heightened need to kiss him then. He couldn’t, so he settled for a kiss on Louis’ cheek and his stomach swooped excitedly. Then he went back to tending the eggs.

After they ate their eggs with a side of toast, Harry announced he would be making another batch of cookies, much to Louis’ delight. It was funny how even after cooking the same type of cookies for half a month, Louis could be that cheerful about the prospect of having more. He was truly a child and that was the only reason why Harry refrained from making the cookies too sugary. He also sat atop the counter and tried to tickle Harry at any given opportunity. Harry was skilled enough to dodge most of his attempts.

“Louis!” Harry squeaked when Louis pinched his nipple and blindly tried to swat him. The blue-eyed boy merely laughed and batted his eyelashes innocently. “You need to stop troubling me and almost ruining this batch. If you continue doing this, I won’t make any more cookies for you and send these to Niall or Liam. So behave.”

“Alright Harold,” Louis replied and rolled his eyes before sitting relatively still. He offered no help but he also didn’t try to trip Harry, just kept fiddling with his hair and patting it down. Harry didn’t feel like telling him that his fringe was perfect, but it was the back hair that was the problem. It was only after Harry had shoved the last batch of cookies in the oven and had dusted his hands that he fixed the back of Louis’ hair. The tufts of hair were soft under his fingertips and he wanted to rule Louis’ hair some more but refrained.

“Now that’s better,” he said and smiled.

“Thanks, Harry,” Louis whispered and quickly pecked Harry’s cheek before rushing out of the kitchen. It was for the better because he didn’t see Harry touching the spot he had kissed and blushing. Harry was in a sort of a daze for the new few minutes, wiping down the counter and hearing the creaking of the pipes in the bathroom. Louis’ loud singing soon cut through the air and Harry found himself humming along as he rinsed the dishes. Once Louis was out, Harry went in to take a quick shower. He knew he had to be quick otherwise Louis would rush in the kitchen to take out the cookies and complain about burned fingertips and tongue because he didn’t have any self control. It happened each time and this time, he wished it would rather not. There were fifteen minutes before the oven timer would go off and that was enough time for Harry to shower, or so he had thought.

Fifteen minutes went by sooner than Harry had expected and when the time went off, he was drying himself. He could hear Louis quickly jumping to his feet and hence wrapped a towel around his waist and ran out the bathroom. He grabbed Louis around the waist and stopped him from reaching the gloves. Harry hadn’t thought anything through because it was too late when he realised he was partially naked and wet and the position they were in was a little, well, compromising. Louis complained and struggled in Harry’s arms and honestly, it was too much for him.

“Louis don’t be such a child!” Harry chided and his voice was a lot more gruff and lower than usual. He cleared his throat and shifted his hips away. Thankfully, Louis huffed and stopped struggling and Harry let go of him quickly. He hoped Louis wouldn’t look down and catch his semi. That would be awkward. “I need to frost the cookies and you’ll be the first to eat them alright. Don’t be so greedy.”

Louis pouted, arms crossed atop his chest and stalked out of the kitchen. “Fine. But I will be back in ten minutes but no more.”

“Thank you,” Harry said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself. Louis did not make him life easy something, but he wouldn’t let be anyone else. Harry also wanted to tell him the same, was desperate to confess his undying love and affection. It was only the fear of rejection holding him back. Hopefully, the mistletoe would solve all his problems somehow. He was not giving up without knowing for sure if Louis was into him or not. Harry hoped he was.

-

Louis was patient enough to wait for Harry to put on the icing. But he also grabbed two for himself and munched on them happily and who could not find the sight beautiful. Well, Harry was endeared and shook his head, grabbing one for himself and walked into his room. He had to text Niall, didn’t he, the creator of the plan.

_‘The plan is on track so far. I’m going to hang up the mistletoe in a few hours. Wish me luck.’_

**‘Good luck!’** came Niall’s response almost quickly. Harry grinned and sighed happily, glancing at the slightly ajar door. He blinked and remembered the reason he was at Niall’s that night in the first place.

_‘Oh and how was your date Friday night?’_

**‘Thought you’d never ask ha.’**

**‘But it was great. We’re meeting up tonight for dinner as well.’**

_‘That’s nice. Good for you!’_

And Harry meant it. He truly was happy for his friend, but that didn’t stop him from feeling sorry for himself. From everything Niall had said about his date, she was charming, beautiful and had a great personality. Everything Louis had and everything Harry loved about him. He also wanted dates with Louis, wanted to smiles with Louis and all that romance. If only the lad would catch on to his feelings and just said he loved him first, it would save Harry from all the anxiety. It would work out so well, but if his life was that easy. He dropped his head into his palms and groaned softy.

“Harold?” Louis suddenly called and Harry, for a moment, feared his groan was loud. But then certainly not.

“Yes Louis?” Harry called out and quit his dramatic groaning. He kept his phone to charge and slapped his cheek once to gather himself before walking out. He found Louis with his hands on his hips, frowning intensely at the small Christmas tree. Seeing Harry appear, his frown decreased minimally as his lips pressed together. “What happened, Lou? Something wrong?”

“No nothing wrong,” he said, shaking his head before his lips turned up in a smile, which Harry gladly returned. “Just, aren’t we decorating the house today? I don’t see any decorations over here. Have you bought them?”

“Oh that.” Harry laughed and shook his head before holding up a finger. He went back inside his room to retrieve the bag with newly purchased Christmas decoration and held it up. He pulled out a long, blue tinsel from the bag and looped it around his neck. As expected, Louis giggled and the corner of his eyes crinkled. Harry cocked his hip to the side and pretended to flip his nonexistent long hair. “Who do you take me for? An amateur?”

Louis bit down on his smile and his lips formed a ‘v’ while his eyes twinkled with merriment. “You do have it all planned then. Alright, this will be fun.”

 _You don’t even know how much time I’ve put into this_ , Harry wanted to say but restrained, shrugging instead. Louis watched him with a fond expression and shook his head before looking away. Harry wanted to ask but knew that Louis wouldn’t reply. He merely picked up the green tinsel and wrapped it around Louis’ neck and grinned coyly. Louis didn’t even attempt to take it off, just adjusted it around his neck.

Harry and Louis didn’t always need to talk to convey their sentiments. They were also comfortable in silences, drowning in it and doing their own thing. There wasn’t any need to discuss; Louis would take the job of decorating the tree single handedly while Harry would focus on the rest of the flat. Harry knew before they started that both of them would take up the same amount of time to finish, since Louis was very particular. He liked to ruminate an hour on a bauble before he put it on the tree, even the fake, smaller tree. He paid the other boy no need, arranging the new green and red pillows on the couch and putting a Christmas themed tablecloth he had bought on a whim. He also hung up the fake candy canes, stockings and garlands which would give their flat a wholesome, homey feel while Louis kept staring intensely at the tree, which was most undecorated. It had been two hours, Harry realised when he checked the time, and Louis was doing god knows what. Harry kept staring at his form, crouched by the tree with the green tinsel looped around his neck and tongue stuck out from the corner of his lips as it did when he was concentrating. He traced with his eyes the furrow that formed on Louis’ forehead and how he bit his lower lip as he hung a bauble on the tree. It was mesmerising, and it took him a great deal of effort to tear his gaze away in time to not get caught.

“I’ve finished decorating the tree!” Louis exclaimed and threw his hands up in the air while Harry had long finished with their flat. He didn’t even feel like pointing that out, because Louis’ grin was bright enough to rival the sun and who would ever want to diminish that. The mistletoe still remained in the bag, un-hung and heavy. Harry had been reluctant to hang that up, in case he got too flustered if Louis did catch him. He wouldn’t be able to answer the questions he would inevitably face, so it would be better if he hung it up when Louis was long asleep. He would just discover the plastic plant hanging above in the morning and Harry wouldn’t be berated about it. It sounded like a great plan in his head.

“So Harold, how does the tree look?” Louis asked as he stood up swiftly and pointed towards the said tree in flourish. Harry bit his lower lip to stop the smile from widening as he looked at the mini tree, which was decorated just like the big one back home. It looked beautiful and he made a mental note to send a picture of it to his mum. “Does it look good?”

“It looks gorgeous, Louis,” Harry gushed as he walked towards Louis to clap him on the shoulder. Someday he could even add the ‘ _like you_ ’ he so desperately wanted to say out loud. “You did such an excellent job.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Louis said, his eyes full of fondness and he leaned forward unprompted to place a quick peck on Harry’s cheek. Heat spread from where Louis’ lips met and Harry was sure he looked flustered and giddy as he felt inside. He didn’t try to hide his near manic grin, following Louis’ actions and taking in the decorations Harry had put up around them. “And you’ve done a great job as well, albeit quicker than me. I definitely feel the Christmas cheer.”

“Well, that was the intention,” Harry mumbled and hoped his cheeks were less pink when Louis looked back at him. There was a strange expression in his eyes, Harry noticed, something searching and intense and he found himself pinned. The expression lasted all of five seconds after which Louis smiled again and strode in the direction of their kitchen. It was confusing. “Where are you going now?”

“Oh, I’m just parched right now,” Louis said without glancing back and Harry frowned after him. He decided to not question his friend’s hurried exit, as he tended to do so quite a few times. It often made Harry wonder if he was being too obvious with his affections but he knew it wasn’t the case this time. He was being subtle today, or so he thought. He hadn’t even put up the mistletoe yet. He pulled the tinsel off his neck and stuffed it in the bag, above the said decoration. “It just reminded me, we have to go down to Tesco today. Wait, we are eating out for lunch, aren’t we?”

“Well yeah,” Harry said as he hurriedly turned around, hiding the bag behind his back for some reason. Louis didn’t notice it. “It’s not I’ve prepared anything. And like you know, we’re out of some stuff.”

Louis clapped his hands together and grinned as he walked towards his bedroom. “Great. Because I know this small cafe that serves Italian dishes within in Uni student’s budget.” He laughed and turned around suddenly, praising the menu and Harry wondered if Louis had been there with someone else, like on a date. But then, he didn’t want to go down that lane when everything was so cheerful otherwise.

**

 

**Week Three**

Harry and Louis had a fixed, perfected morning routine, if and when they had early lectures. Monday just happened to be the day where they had eight am lectures. And Harry was a man with a plan.

Harry wouldn’t call himself a morning person (even though Louis might), but he did just fine with waking up early. Louis hated to be woken up before at least nine, so it was Harry’s responsibility to lure him out of bed with food. He woke up at seven, took a shower before waking Louis up. And by the time Louis got his arse out of bed and padded towards the kitchen, Harry had already made them both tea and cheese toasties. This time, Harry’s hands were a little shaky though, as he watched Louis leaning against the entryway. Usually Harry would fawn over Louis’ sleep ruffled hair and adorable pout, but right now he just focused on pouring hot water in the mug without spilling. He prepared Louis’ tea just the way he liked it, pasted on a smile and walked towards him with a purpose. What Louis didn’t know was that Harry had gotten around to hang the mistletoe without making much noise just this morning. There was one right over where Louis was stood and the boy was unaware, and Harry couldn’t help when his eyes flicked up. Louis was too sleepy to catch on. Harry’s plan was most likely flawed but at least there was one, he told himself while smiling nervously at his best friend.

“Hey,” Louis whispered, voice gruff with sleep and he smiled dopily at him. His fingers absently fiddled with his fringe before he extended his hands to take the mug from Harry. But Harry was gripping tight to the mug and leaned against the other side of the wall than hand Louis the mug. The latter frowned, looking visible confused at Harry’s unusual behaviour. “Good morning? Is everything alright?”

“Hello Louis,” Harry exclaimed rather loudly, louder than what was the ‘morning voice’ Louis had sent and the latter winced at the volume. He was being too jittery and weird maybe, and needed to get a grip on himself. He started giggling, puzzling Louis further and he looked further away and concerned than usual. Harry stopped laughing and cleared his throat, raising his eyebrows to maintain a coy expression which was probably wasted at this point. “Oh would you look at that!”

“Look at... what?” Louis asked, jutting his lower lip out as he looked down at himself for anything unusual. When he didn’t find anything, he looked up again at Harry imploringly. “Are you alright, Haz?”

“I’m fine,” Harry said, probably unconvincingly before he looked up. “We’re under a mistletoe right now. Look.”

“What are you...” Louis trailed off as he looked over his head, and Harry looked at him nervously. There was a furrow forming between Louis’ eyebrows as his lips parted in confusion. He looked simply puzzled by the plant’s appearance because it hadn’t been there before and then looked back at Harry, the confusion never wearing off. Harry maintained an innocent looking smile, as he raised his eyebrows and waited for Louis’ next move. His heart was racing with excitement, butterflies unfurling their wings in his tummy and waiting to fly. While Louis’ face was carefully neutral, eyes squinting a little. “What’s that up there?”

“Like I told you, it’s mistletoe,” Harry said quietly and frowned, the more Louis frowned back. He was getting unsure of his plan, of Niall’s confidence in the plan and was all set to withdraw it. But then, he promised himself once chance this month so. “We’re standing under the mistletoe so you know how that Justin Bieber song goes. We have to kiss the person standing underneath so. Yeah.”

Harry even chuckled, trying to pass this awkward moment as a big joke but to no avail. Louis kept squinting at him, as if trying to analyse this.

“Yeah, kiss,” he said, voice flat as he pinched his lower lip between his fingers. It was one of Harry’s nervous ticks, which Louis seemed to mirror right now. He didn’t know if he should take it as a good thing or bad.

“So what should we do?” Harry whispered, as if sharing a secret and saw Louis’ eyes flit down to his lips.

“We kiss?”

Harry hummed and licked his lips, one shoulder lifted up in a shrug as he stared at Louis. Intensely. “So...?”

Louis’ eyebrows furrowed further as his eyes darted to Harry’s lips and he took a step closer. Heart thudding loudly in his chest, Harry’s eyes fluttered shut in anticipation as his chest swelled up with hope. This was it, he said to himself, the date of their first anniversary would be December 7th. But then the kiss never came, instead Louis ducked down and kissed the mug in Harry’s hand before freeing the said mug from his grip. The heat from the mug was sure to have smarted his lips at least a little but Louis showed no signs of it, sipping on his tea and giving him a thumbs up. Harry’s jaw dropped as he stared at the other boy walk into the living room with a slight bounce in his step and honestly? Harry felt more offended than disappointed that Louis hadn’t kissed him on the lips because this was certainly on purpose, to tease him no less. It was confirmed when Louis turned over to wink at him before flopping down on the big sofa. Harry couldn’t believe him.

“That little shit,” Harry whispered under his breath as he finally managed to shake himself off. He retrieved his now cooling mug of tea and narrowed his eyes at it. He deserved one more chance. “I need more mistletoe. And a lot of hope and indignation to fuel me.”

-

Harry’s grand plan was to put up mistletoe everywhere in their flat, everywhere they would both find themselves standing under. It was a more difficult task that Harry had anticipated and he just found three more places but he was hopeful.

The next two days that passed brought Harry nothing but disappointment, since each time that Harry did catch Louis under the mistletoe, the latter would kiss anything but Harry. He would kiss the inanimate objects, if one of them held any and his eyes always held that challenging twinkle. Harry knew he was teasing him, but he didn’t know why. It was frustrating. On Thursday, Louis just kissed the doorway and walked past, giving him a mysterious smile while Harry fumed. He was really getting nowhere and determination could only get him so far.

That was how Harry found himself that evening in the same predicament as the last Friday, lounging on Niall’s bed and moping. Niall was getting ready for his third date while being an incredibly great friend and listening to Harry’s woes. Harry couldn’t be sure he actually was listening, but he was glad at least Niall seemed to be pretend to. Hailee, he had said her name was, would be arriving at his flat in about twenty minutes so Harry had just fifteen minutes to get his complaints out. Those were the exact words Niall had used, giving him a pointed but sympathetic look. Harry’s mood was only dampened by the fact that within the week, Niall was on his third date while Harry wasn’t even getting a kiss. His life was unfair.

“You know, I have half a mind to carry a cactus in the flat so if that prick tries to deflect again, the alternative would be to kiss this prick,” Harry grumbled loudly and Niall snorted in the process of fixing his collar. He gave Harry a suggestive look and the latter smiled in spite of himself. He didn’t mean to say it that way, but his choices of words was certainly funny. “He kissed a hot mug of tea the first day, then the wet jumper in my hand. Why doesn’t the guy want to kiss me? I’m wonderful and deserving.”

“I don’t know why he doesn’t want to,” Niall said and started styling his hair, looking away. He began to make faces in the mirror in an effort to make Harry laugh but it didn’t work. Harry was too busy cursing his fate and weeping over his dumb luck. He didn’t understand what that twinkle in Louis’ eyes meant. He was proud of his ability to read Louis’ moods but he didn’t know anymore. Harry wanted to groan until he ran out of breath instead of laughing. And when he started doing the same, Niall rushed over to cover his mouth and shut off Harry’s groan. Harry pouted behind Niall’s palm, just to show his indignation. “Hush Harry, your sounds can be grossly misinterpreted by my neighbours and I would like to meet their eyes thanks. And about the other matter, stop moping and talk to him. With words and express your feelings and all that. Talking helps and I know because I’m now going on a third date with the girl of my dreams. She loves golf, can you believe? She’s perfect for me.”

“You don’t understand,” Harry said and rolled onto his back. He looked up the ceiling and heaved out a deep sigh. “See till last week, I was just afraid of him rejecting me. And this week, I’ve sort of been rejected like multiple times and I think he thinks the mistletoe is a joke. So if I confess now, I come off like some creep. I value this friendship, and I’m going crazy over him.”

“Do you plan to just keep trapping him under the mistletoe till the end of this month and force him to make the first move?”

“If that's what it takes,” Harry replied and stuck out his bottom lip petulantly. “I love him so much I’ve turned into Ross Geller. Liam was right, I’m being creepy and harassing him.”

“Liam is –” Niall started before cutting himself off abruptly when he received a text. Without as much as a word or saying whether he agreed with Liam or not, he walked out of the bedroom. Harry was left to grumble and follow him out. He soon realised the cause of Niall’s abrupt exit and that was the arrival of his girlfriend, whom he went to buzz up. Harry wanted to fawn over the two of them, because the smiles they aimed at each other were cute but then he had his own inner turmoil. So he smiled and waved at Hailee and hoped he didn’t look as bitter as he felt. “Harry, this is Hailee. And Hailee do you remember that idiot friend I told you about who’s in love with my other idiot friend? This is the one who cries on my bed every Friday night without being helpful.”

“That’s the worst description of me!” Harry protested, glaring at his friend while Hailee laughed. Her face held no judgement so he liked her already, hence the smile he aimed at her was more genuine. “But he’s not wrong. That would be the most apt description of me right now. But I promise you that there’s more to me than just that. You’ll know soon. You’re coming to our flat on Saturday right? For the Christmas party? We have rented a small karaoke machine.”

“Um,” she hesitated, glancing at Niall who was making a face at Harry, “I’m not sure? Like Niall didn’t mention it before.”

Niall crossed his arms as he glared at Harry and took a step closer. “Yeah, Haz, I wasn’t aiming to drive my new girlfriend away by taking her to meet my three dysfunctional friends on the fourth date. I don’t want her to be freaked.”

Hailee laughed and Niall’s lips twitched but his frown stayed firm on his face. Harry frowned right back, mirroring his posture.

“Not to be too self deprecating, Niall,” Harry said, lifting his nose in the air, “But she’s met me and I’m probably the most, well, intense amongst all of us. Liam’s flaw is that he’s too nice, Louis is slightly too teasing and I’m over emotional. So if she’s fine with me then... wait you don’t hate me, do you Hailee?”

Hailee laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she shook her head. “Oh not at all. You seem delightful so far. I’ve met worst people.”

“Oh well, that’s good,” Harry replied and grinned. Turning to Niall he raised his eyebrows. “See, I’m proven correct.”

“At _your_ expense,” Niall pointed out before sighing. He shrugged in a show of resignation. “But you’re not wrong. Do you want to go to Harry and Louis’ Christmas party though? You have the option to say no, please say no.”

Hailee laughed and shook her head at her boyfriend before looking at Harry. “Don’t worry Harry, I’ll be sure to attend and will bring Niall along as well. I have a great singing voice and I want to take him up on a sing off.”

“Ooh I can’t wait for that. That's the spirit. I like you already.” Harry gave her a sunny grin as he ran his fingers through his hair, absently tousling it further. He pursed his lips as a new thought popped into his head. “But really. It’s a small thing, not a proper party just a group of Uni friends. It will be homey; there will be food, music but no gifts exchange. Louis thought it would be better if we saved that for next year, when we can give each other better gifts. He’s so thoughtful.”

Niall snorted and leaned towards his girlfriend to whisper in her ear, loud enough to be heard by Harry. “Here we go again. We should make a quick exit so he doesn’t start up on his lovelorn musing which basically means complaining.”

“Fine I got the message,” Harry said with a huff as he grabbed his coat and slung it over his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes at his friend, who was looking way to happy for his own good. But then, he deserved happiness too. “But good luck the two of you. Have fun, use protection, don’t do something I won’t do yada yada.”

Harry could hear Niall’s raucous laughter mingled with Hailee’s soft giggles and shook his head before closing the door behind him. He allowed himself a smile as he thought about Louis and how he wanted the same kind of an easy, loving relationship with him. Why did it have to be so difficult with him always?

Maybe Harry should talk to him, but that was a very scary option. Maybe later.

-

It had been a weird week and to say that would only be an understatement.

Harry had been acting weird but also sort of cheery, going overboard with Christmas but that was nothing unusual. He was surely touched by Harry’s dedication to cheering Louis up and making the cookies despite having work, Uni and assignments. Louis sure felt very lucky for all that along with the mini candy canes. As much as he would like to let Harry be in the kitchen in peace, he was hyped up on sugar.

“So when is everyone arriving today?” Louis asked as he leaned his hip against the countertop. Harry was icing on the gingerbread cookies with practised finesse and it seemed rather easy. He was tempted to ask if he was allowed to try the same, but it would be better sometime when his hand wasn’t shaking. Besides, cooking and baking calmed Harry. He looked calm as well, as he hummed absently in response to Louis’ question but otherwise didn’t look up. There were about a dozen cookies still un-iced and Louis picked one of them, earning a mild, cute looking frown. He might be one of the few people who managed to look cute while frowning and sweaty curls, all pulled off his face with an old scarf. Louis bopped his nose and the frown turned into an even cuter smile, that had him feeling a certain way. He was used to it.

Louis could never get enough of Harry and neither ever was full of his cookies. December would feel incomplete without the famous baked treats and at some point he was sure Harry was just trying to get him fat. If one could get fan from eating too much of cookies. Harry was a breath of fresh, sweet smelling air in Louis’ life and dreaded to think of what would happen when he found someone special and moved out. He would certainly feel lost and heartbroken. Since he didn’t want to dwell on that, he picked another cookie (a frosted one this time) and took a huge bite of it. He got another frown and just grinned back.

“What?” he asked while chewing, “You weren’t answering me so I helped myself to another one.”

“Yeah, because I was busy,” Harry said, trying to be stern even if his voice was playful and eyes crinkling with a smile. Louis shrugged and chewed through his rather large mouthful as he watched Harry push his bottom lip out in thought. “Wait, what was the question again? Right, let’s see. Liam will be arriving any minute to go with you to the grocery store and you are to listen to him. Niall and Hailee are arriving within the hour as well, bringing chicken for some reason. I hope she is overlooking the chicken because I cannot deal with his under-spiced food once again. Remember when he invited us for his special ‘American style Thanksgiving meal’?”

“Wish I could forget,” Louis said before snorting at the memory. Harry’s lips upturned as they jointly reminisced that night. “You yelled at him for fifteen minutes straight and then ran down to the store, bought some spices and seasoned that turkey to remove the blandness. That was epic, in the worst way.”

Harry shook his head and made an exaggerated face of horror that had Louis laughing further. “Oh and Zayn is coming as well, you know? Total surprise to me. Apparently he and Liam got back together. Don’t ask. Everyone else is arriving at seven, which is just two hours away and I have to start on the appetisers. Luckily, it’s just twenty people.”

Louis knew what was coming next.

“Absolutely, no more alcohol,” Harry warned, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to make a menacing face. It didn’t look menacing at all. “I have brought enough for twenty people and we do not need more. I don’t have to remind you about our housewarming party, right?”

Louis rolled his eyes and stuffed the rest of his cookie in his mouth. The disapproval was evident in Harry’s eyes but he said nothing, just brushing away the crumbs that fell all down on Louis’ jumper. He wasn’t wearing a puffy jumper that night as he had done the whole month. This one was slightly fitted and red in colour which had tiny white snowflakes on it. It matched Harry’s jumper, which held the same pattern but was just in green. It brought out the colour of his eyes and made him look cosier than usual. Not to mention, cute. “You know that every party doesn’t have to end up with someone vomiting all over the brand new rug right? Besides, that rug is already stained so what more damage can be done?”

“It could always spontaneously catch fire,” Harry retorted, waggling a finger at him before giggling as he saw Louis’ deadpan expression. He absently pushed a stray curl behind his ears and coughed. “It took a while to clean up the last time and time is what we don’t have okay. We’re leaving early tomorrow. There’s a reason I’m advertising it to everyone as ‘homey, holiday get together’ and not ‘wild Christmas rave’, okay.”

Harry was looking at him with wide eyes, with that pleading look and how could Louis ever be immune to that. He was lucky he was cute, Louis thought as he gave in. “Fine. I won’t go crazy and buy more beer. We’ll just stick to crisps and the random stuff on your list.”

Harry’s lips curved into an indulgent smile, his eyes glinting with something that said he was doubtful but hopeful Louis would stick to his word. His lips parted as if he was going to say something but they were interrupted by a knock on the front door. Louis snorted and Harry shook his head, knowing that was only one person who would knock on the door but not barge in.

“Just try to follow through what you agreed to, okay?” Harry asked instead of whatever he was going to say before and Louis nodded, grinning impishly. On a whim, he rose up on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on Harry’s cheek and felt his heart skip a beat as per usual. When he took a step back, he saw the prettiest blush coating Harry’s cheeks and grinned. In an alternate universe, Louis would be brave enough to kiss Harry on the lips like he really wanted to. But in this universe, he didn’t possess the courage. Heck he couldn’t even take the mistletoe bait, fearing it would cost him their friendship. So he walked quickly towards the front door, throwing it open to find a grinning Liam, who was wearing a proper, ugly Christmas jumper.

“Hi Louis, I brought ice and tissues for the party.”

“Why?” Louis asked, genuinely baffled by the combination as he accepted the back. He stepped aside to let him in and walked back towards the kitchen. He found Harry standing at the doorway, frowning as he held his hand out for the bag. Louis was very aware of the mistletoe that suddenly loomed over them and frowned at the plant. He should have been used to it and yet, he couldn’t figure out why it was there. More importantly, why was Harry standing underneath it so often since he had put it up? Did he think it was fun or did he genuinely want Louis to kiss him? Pushing down all those questions, he gulped and kissed the ice-filled bag in Harry’s hands. He managed not to grimace before turning to look at Liam, who was giving the pair a considering look. “And Liam, you have the key. So why don’t you use it like a normal friend and just like, barge in.”

Liam shrugged and smiled. “Just being polite. Are we ready to go then?”

“Just about,” Louis said as he searched around for his coat and wallet. He slipped his feet into a pair of old Toms and waved at Harry before grabbing Liam’s arm and walking out the door. He ignored the curious look his friend was giving him, ignored the weird twisting feeling in his gut.

-

“Harry specifically instructed me to not let you buy alcoholic drinks,” Liam said. His arms were crossed over his chest as he shot Louis a disapproved looked. Yet, he was in no way trying to stop him so Louis grinned mischievously before carefully placing the bottle inside the trolley. “This is why I told him it would be better if I just got everything along the way but nope, please take Louis or he won’t let me cook and eat all the cookies. You’re a child, you know that.”

“Not a child,” Louis was quick to protest as he pouted and crossed his arms. Liam’s lips quirked up as he shook his head disbelievingly. “And did he say all that? Because I’ll tell you, I’m not that bad. I have self-control. Sure I ate about four cookies but that’s all I did. It’s cute when he frowns though, so I just want to see his face when he gets to know I got mulled wine. In my defence, I’m being festive.”

“It’s like playground pulling on pigtails, I swear,” Liam muttered under his breath and sighed. It wasn’t quiet and Louis narrowed his eyes at his friend, confused by his words. What was the meaning of that? Liam rolled his eyes and sighed once more. “You know like when a guy likes a girl he keeps annoying her to show affection? That weird het thing? Just in your case, along with annoying him, you also physically shower your affections on him. He’s also not annoyed by you, just pretends to be because you’ll be happy. It’s a seriously weird dynamics. And gosh I really do not get the two of you.”

Louis scoffed while being slightly surprised by Liam. Because he was the guy that did not talk that much, or that quick. He sort of looked frustrated by them. “Really? Because from your words you seemed to have us quite figured out.”

Liam chuckled before shaking his head. “Oh believe me, it was all unwilling. And we really should change the subject before it leads to a confrontation. I hate confrontations.”

“Alright,” Louis said, dragging out the word as he continued to look at Liam with a small frown. Taking in a deep breath, he looked away and walked on further down the aisle, which he hoped, was the crisps one. As expected, Liam quietly followed behind him with the trolley and the silence between them was deafening. Louis was still thinking about Liam’s words and what he knew. Had he discovered that Louis was in love with Harry? Was Louis so obvious about it? Did Harry know? All those questions rattled around in his head so he swallowed them down and pretended to look interested in something else. But he was only human so... “What do you mean by confrontation?”

Liam sighed deep and closed his eyes, sort of looking done with everything. Louis wouldn’t blame him, really. “You do not want to get into this, Louis, trust me.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re in the middle of Tesco and I don’t want you to freak out or have a breakdown or make a scene.”

Louis harrumphed. “Why would I do that?”

“Alright then,” Liam said as he opened his eyes just to narrow them at Louis. His lips were pressed in a thin line, eyebrows raised and maybe he had been right. Louis should not get into this here. “It’s clear you like Harry and I know because you told me once when you were drunk. Because I’m a good friend, I never told him and neither did I bring it up. But right now I’m confused Louis. Why aren’t you kissing Harry when you clearly want to? Do you know how much stress he’s under because he thinks you’re rejecting him?”

“I uh... rejecting?”

“The mistletoe,” Liam said dryly and rolled his eyes. Louis’ eyes widened. How did he know about that? “You aren’t kissing him and he’s taking that as rejection. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Louis said quietly as he shrugged and looked away. His fingers fiddled with his fringe as always when distressed. He chewed on his lower lip as he contemplated the best way he could answer that, expecting a stern talking to either way. Liam had settled into that mode and Louis was at fault there. “Mistletoe is Christmas tradition you know? If two people are underneath it at the same time, they have to kiss one another. I don’t want our first kiss to happen because of a tradition, or be taken as something unimportant. But it’s very important to me because I’m in love with him, have been for years. I don’t want to jeopardise that and I also want a real kiss, not a cursory one. So I’ve not been... kissing him on the lips.”

To Louis’ surprise, Liam started laughing raucously and kept laughing until he started to curl in on himself. It was a puzzling reaction, not to mention slightly insulting that Liam was laughing after Louis had been so honest, so open with him. He had never said he was in love with Harry when sober so this was an important moment, undeserving of a laugh.

“I’m not laughing at you,” he clarified, sobering up when he noticed the intensity of Louis’ glare. Louis’ continued staring at him nevertheless. “I just realised I’m friends with two of the dumbest best friends, who know everything about each other but somehow missed the fact that the other is hopelessly in love with them. That’s just dumb, alright.”

“Harry and I aren’t dumb,” Louis instinctively protested and huffed. He frowned, replaying every moment he spent with Harry and it clarified nothing. “And I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh Louis,” Liam cooed as he placed both his hands on Louis’ shoulders and stepped closer. “Do you really think Harry is hanging mistletoe for tradition’s sake? Because as far as I’m aware, you two don’t do that.”

“You’re... right.” Louis blinked, feeling confused. There was something akin to hope fluttering in his chest, heart beating fast.

“Don’t mind my crude language, but that boy is tits over arse in love with you, so much that he goes overboard with Christmas just because _you_ like it. He talks about you like you personally started Christmas and you don’t even know how fondly he looks at you when you’re not watching.”

“Oh,” Louis whispered, head spinning with Liam’s words. He sort of made sense but also, he didn’t want to believe them lest he got disappointed again. He played with the hair on the back of his neck and fish mouthed for a few minutes. “Are you saying he loved me back all this time?”

Liam assured him he was very sure and that was how Louis did have a freak out in the middle of fucking Tesco as was predicted before. It wasn’t that bad, but he did fall onto his knees dramatically with a manic grin on his face so. If Liam was not wrong about this, then he surely wouldn’t be wrong about Harry. At least Louis hoped that but he sneaked in a bottle of cheap vodka just in case he was wrong. He wouldn’t be able to handle that rejection.

On their way back to the flat, Louis spotted Niall and his girlfriend, Hailee who were holding hands. Spying an opportunity for teasing, Louis pushed aside the anxiety within him and walked quickly towards the couple while leaving Liam to keep up. The couple was giggling and whispering amongst themselves and Louis sneaked up on them just to startle. Only Niall screamed, while Hailee laughed happily at his reaction. Louis already liked her.

“What the hell, Louis I almost dropped the chicken,” Niall said as he held up the bag in his hand. Louis merely grinned, holding his hands behind his back and Liam finally caught up to them. “Hello to you too Liam, my good friend whom I love.”

“Oh please, you love me more.” Louis rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Also, nice to finally meet you Hailee.”

“Hello Louis,” she said, and Louis’ eyebrows rose. “Yeah I’ve heard a lot about you. Do you know that Harry talks about you a lot?”

There was a sparkle in her eyes, and she shot him a knowing look and Louis groaned internally. Did she know that Harry was in love with him too? Did everyone who met Harry twice know he was in love with Louis? Was Louis the only oblivious fool? Harry and Hailee had met once, hadn’t they? It was a shock that she knew as well.

“That’s what I just told him,” Liam said dryly before extending his free hand for Hailee to shake. “I’m Liam. I’m sure Niall hasn’t told you a lot about me but I certainly do know about you. Nice to finally meet you.”

A beat passed when they all just looked at one another and a silent conversation passed between the couple that Louis suspected was about him. He cleared his throat, no longer wanting to be the centre of attention.

“Harry would be waiting,” he said and Niall snorted.

“Oh yeah, that he will be. Let’s go.”

Louis marched ahead, with Liam on his trail and Niall and Hailee at last, still whispering amongst themselves. He ignored all three of them and focused on his own beating heart, knowing he was going to face Harry now. He was nervous, still grappling with this new information. All it took was a glimpse of his best friend, who was clad in a cheesy apron with something smeared on his cheeks to make Louis revert back to his smitten self. And it was as if nothing changed, when Louis tried to sneak the stolen bottles of alcohol from Harry.

Nothing had changed, but Louis wouldn’t mind if he did find Harry standing under the mistletoe again. He will not let the opportunity go. He might stand underneath himself but then... no.

-

Harry was exhausted.

After having that one discussion with Niall, he had resolved to talk to Louis. But that didn’t exactly happen. He had arrived home to Louis heating up a frozen pizza, claiming he would make a meal to serve them both and Harry was too whipped to point out that it wouldn’t be a proper meal. His already weak resolve had broken further and he decided to push the confession to the next day. That night, he just enjoyed his best friend’s company.

On Friday, Louis had taken two shifts at work and not informed Harry until late. So he just took the time to spruce up their place further, hanging up a wreath, that he couldn’t believe he had forgotten, outside their door. He also packed both their bags, knowing that Louis would have made him do so at the end moment anyway. They were leaving early Sunday morning and it would already be a task waking Louis up, and he didn’t want the added tardiness, thank you very much. He was glad Louis had bought takeaway and they ate, cuddling on the sofa while watching ‘Love, Actually’. Saturday morning, Harry left early in the morning to get muffins and mini candy canes for the party, of which Louis was quick to grab four. The rest of the afternoon had passed with Louis annoying him too much, while being on a sugar high and it was all too much to handle. Mainly because excited Louis was also Harry’s weakness. He was glad for Liam, who had agreed to get Louis out of the flat for a while just so Harry could compose himself. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t outright start staring at him and looking lovelorn throughout the night.

“You really went all out, didn’t you,” Niall said as soon as he stepped into the house and let out a low, appreciative whistle. He winked at Harry before taking off his glasses. Louis, probably trying to be a good host for once, grabbed all of their coats and disappeared to deposit them into his room. Harry bit on his lip as he grinned at his best friend and stared at him until he left the room, which earned him a smack on his shoulder. It was Niall, of course, who looked much cheery than usual with a pink cheeked glow to him. He was also grinning at Harry wolfishly, which was not a good look on him. “Try to act less obvious, my gosh Harry. And tell me the truth. You went all out for _Louis_ , didn’t you?”

“Huh, this?” Harry asked as he rubbed the back of his neck and spun around. He took a cursory glance of the room before shrugging. “Louis loves Christmas and I do too. It’s not all for him, you know. There’s some for… me?”

“Sure, okay, great lie” Liam deadpanned with a disbelievingly snort. “I need a drink, by the way.”

Harry didn’t stop his friend when he brushed past him and into the kitchen. He heard a thump from somewhere in the bathroom, which signalled Louis’ location. Bathroom was good enough, as long as he was far from the kitchen. The appetisers were done, the crisps were laid out in bowls so all that was left to do was worry about whatever he had missed while fixing the pillows. A while later, Zayn arrived and proclaimed he had brought holiday music like Liam had asked and good, that, because Harry had completely forgotten the music. He was stressed and exhausted but that didn’t mean he didn’t notice sneaky glances and pointed looks exchanged between his friends, excluding Louis of course. The latter looked similarly suspicious about their whispering but he was acting equally as strange. Louis kept watching Harry from a distance, a strange, thoughtful look in his eyes but didn’t approach him. It was the most peculiar behaviour of his because usually, he couldn’t stay away from Harry. He made himself a promise to ask later what was bothering Louis. But later that night. Not now, when the two conspiring couples were keeping a watchful eye on them.

Harry had invited about twenty people roughly, some from classes some from work and some of Louis’ friends. They started arriving past seven, bearing gifts. It was sort of strange. Their small living room was packed soon, with guests milling about and Harry wondered if they should have thrown a proper party after all. He made sure everyone had food and drinks in their hands while Louis stood closer to the door, collecting coats and making small talk. They were a good team that way, proper hosts and that meant they didn’t get much time to spend with each other. That was a real shame.

“Everyone loves your cookies,” Louis complimented while munching on one. He had finally managed to free himself from people and sidled up to Harry, grabbed his elbow and pulled him to a side. Harry had gone along willingly, of course he had. Louis looked amazing, a proper mix of adorable and sexy in that red jumper. Red was his colour really. He had done his hair in some sort of a windswept quiff and he had a happy glow about him. Louis leaned in closer to him, as if wanting to whisper a secret and Harry preened under all the attention. He almost forgot that Niall and Liam had been watching him eagle eyed the whole evening. “I’m not surprised though. You are the best baker around. Besides you’ve had lots of practise baking cookies for me. One could say that I should deserve equal praise for helping you practise.”

“Oh yeah?” Harry asked, chuckling as he raised his eyebrows and leaned even closer. Louis’ eyes widened and if he wasn’t mistaken, his gaze dipped to linger on Harry’s lips. But the movement was fleeting so it probably meant nothing. “Whoever says that? You?”

Louis shrugged, tongue darting out to lick the frosting by the corner of his lips and Harry’s breath hitched. “The point is, you’re welcome for the all the praises you’re getting today. Oh and I forgot to tell you earlier but the appetisers are delicious. I couldn’t tell the veggie ones apart from the meat ones. You should be pursuing a culinary career, I say, like I always do.”

“Maybe,” Harry said as he shrugged and leaned a little back. If he didn’t rein himself in, he might just do something stupid. He didn’t want to ruin their night; not by kissing Louis without permission. He had convinced himself that Louis didn’t want that.

There was a sad tilt to Louis’ smile as he nodded to himself and leaned back as well. His eyes darted around the room before settling in on Harry again. “There have been an awful lot of songs not related to Christmas on this playlist, I’ll say. I think I should have a word with Zayn, that is, if I do find him.”

Saying so, Louis walked off in a random direction to probably search for the lad while Harry frowned. He really hadn’t been focused on the songs playing actually. Karaoke was for later, when everyone was sufficiently. When he did tune in to the song, he froze. It was a love song and a very pointed, blatant one at that.

_‘I'm asking you to be my baby_

_I'm giving you my heart, don't break it_

_I'm crushing and I'm going crazy_

_Either way I know we'll make it.’_

The chorus got further obvious when the duo proclaimed in the song that they wanted to be ‘more than friends’. More so, it was the same song from days back that he was humming and curious as to which it was. He didn’t call it a coincidence; rather it was a big sign for Harry to get his shit together and confess his feelings to Louis. Annoyingly enough, it wasn’t a sign from the universe, but from Niall, who was rapidly approaching him with a mischievous smile.

“Don’t you find this a lot relatable to your situation?” he asked, once he was close enough and wiggled his eyebrows. Harry stared at him blankly. “What? Didn’t think it was funny? Too bad. But serious question, what's the plan for tonight?”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. Niall merely raised his eyebrows. “Was I supposed to have a plan?”

“Harry, you...” he trailed off and sighed. His eyes darted around the room until they focused on Louis, who was having a hushed conversation with Liam. Harry frowned at them, sensing the distress in Louis’ posture but Niall probably did too, as he grabbed his arm to rein him. “Look at me, not him. You don’t have any plan to confess to him or anything? Don’t tell me you’ve given up?”

“I have, actually,” Harry admitted, knot forming in his stomach as he looked away from Louis and sighed. “I’ve sort of given up. He won’t kiss me back.”

“That’s such a waste of time!” Niall squawked, uncharacteristically loud. Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend, knowing something was amiss. “I can’t let you. I might be the kind of guy who gets way too happy when in a relationship and tries to set up their friends with someone. Sue me. Besides, I think you’re wrong.”

Harry was about to protest when Niall grabbed his shoulders and spun him. Leaning against the entryway to the kitchen, right under the mistletoe was Louis. He was nervously fiddling with his fringe as he beckoned Harry with a crook of his finger and without thinking, he followed the order. He was confused, of course, as to why Louis was standing there when that was the space he was sort of running from for a week. “Hi?”

“Hey Harry,” Louis said, sounding out of breath as he pushed himself off the wall. Harry smiled back, eyes flitting up to the mistletoe and back at the boy. “Oh look, we’re right under the mistletoe!”

The furrow between Harry’s eyebrows deepened as he nodded and stared at Louis, who was uncharacteristically quiet. Not to mention nervous, with his gaze flitting all over Harry’s face and bottom lip caught between his teeth. “I know that we are,” Harry said after a beat and pursed his lips. “I put the mistletoe up there in the first place. But are you alright?”

Louis exhaled loudly and shook his head. Harry’s hand instinctively moved to settle on his shoulder as the question hung in the air. “I’m an idiot, okay? Nope, don’t interrupt let me finish first. I’ve been crazy about you since we were fourteen okay. I had the worst freak out of my life but you were there, holding up a tray full of gingerbread cookies and it didn’t feel so daunting. For the longest time, I gave up hope that you would ever love me back and I got used to that, you know. But then on Monday, you put up this mistletoe and said since we’re underneath it, we should kiss. And I freaked out again and very stupidly kissed the mug, because I thought you were bloody joking. It was Liam who told me, and I quote him, that you were ‘tits over arse in love with me’. That’s when I realised you actually wanted to kiss me, and it wasn’t just you know, a holiday thing so yeah.”

Harry was gaping at him since the second sentence and when Louis finally stopped his tirade to take in a deep breath, he shut his mouth as well. He was in shock. He hadn’t expected this to happen today, two days after he had given up hope. Niall was right – Harry had been stupid to not confess it all along. And the quieter he stayed, the more jittery Louis grew in front of him. So he took in a deep breath and chuckled. “You don’t know how glad I am you said that.”

Louis’ face lit up in a grin but before Harry could comment on it, Louis took a step forward and pressed their lips together. Harry made a surprised sound before kissing back, hand moving towards the back of Louis’ neck to pull him in closer. He could vaguely make out the sound of Niall’s cheers and was aware that there were people around yet, he didn’t care. He continued kissing Louis, probably a little obscenely while they stood under the doorway. It was probably Liam who nudged them as he tried to squeeze his way into the kitchen, and the two leaned back, breathless but happy. Harry could barely believe it, licking his lips and grinning at Louis. The latter was smiling back, with shiny red lips. Harry wouldn’t mind kissing him again but well, people.

“For the record, I love you too,” Harry whispered, making Louis chuckle and peck his lips once more. “If we weren’t so stupid, we could have been doing this for the past few years.”

“Yeah?” Louis asked, eyes shining brightly and Harry nodded. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Harry said once more with a brighter smile. He caught Liam smiling at them as he held up a bottle of beer before motioning them to move, which Harry did. He couldn’t keep his hands off Louis, so he casually let his arm wrap around his waist before turning around to glare at Niall. “Your playlist is trash and not suitable for Christmas.”

“Yes, Niall, your Jason Mraz obsession is getting out of hand,” Louis yelled before humming along to the song. Harry smiled at Louis, his annoyance at Niall’s choice of song for the moment forgotten. “But I love this song so you’re alright for now, I guess.”

Harry hadn’t heard this song before, but he knew why Niall had added it to the playlist. It was another nudge, a more fucking pointed one. But it was all right since he had already confessed his feelings and there was no fear of being found out.

_‘I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend,_

_Lucky to have been where I have been_ _,_

_Lucky to be coming home again.’_

“Can I kiss you again?” Harry asked, making Louis stop humming just to smile at him again. His eyes darted pointedly back to Niall and Liam, who were watching them intently before laughing. “Yeah you’re right. Let’s take it to the bedroom. I don’t think I can stay away from you any longer. And I think the lads can make sure nothing goes wrong, right?”

“That’s the best thing you’ve said tonight,” Louis said and winked, before almost dragging Harry towards his bedroom. Before he shut the door, he bid all of them goodnight while most of the guests looked amused and knowingly at them. Niall, Hailee and Liam looked smug for getting them together. Harry might be planning to send them some thank you gifts just for that.

**

 

**Week Four**

It was a mutual decision to not tell their families just yet that they were together. They sat down and discussed between kisses that they wanted to be boyfriends but on the down low for the moment. In Louis’ words, their families were way too emotional and it would get out of hand. Harry didn’t protest, just sinking into Louis’ embrace. They also decided to postpone their time of travel, spending all morning in bed before leaving late in the afternoon. If it was up to Harry, he would keep Louis to himself. But then, his mother and sister would get suspicious and would question him. Harry was not good at lying so that was better avoided. Luckily, Louis was going to stay with Harry instead of his own house. Louis’ sisters had taken over his old room and instead of letting him sleep on the couch; Jay decided to send him to Harry’s. No one protested to that. It worked out splendidly since Harry got Louis to himself all night. Sure they couldn’t do more than quietly getting each other off, and neither could Harry kiss Louis in front of their families. But it was something.

“Can I try icing the cookie as well?” Louis asked and looked at Harry with big eyes. Harry glanced up at his boyfriend (the word still sent a thrill down his spine) who was sitting up on the counter, feet swinging and occasionally hitting the cupboard and smiled. He was only allowed up there because Anne was at the Tomlinson’s and not minding them. She did not appreciate sitting on the counter top and neither did Harry, but he would excuse Louis. “Please? It’s my birthday and that looks fun.”

“It’s not fun,” Harry retorted but shrugged, handing him the piping bag. Louis grinned at him before jumping off the counter with a brilliant smile, and tried to replicate Harry’s movements from earlier. His hands were too shaky and the icing looked like a mess but Louis looked too happy, hence Harry merely giggled. “That’s your cookie now.”

“That’s great,” Louis said, instinctively kissing Harry’s cheek before picking up his badly iced cookie and stuffing it in his mouth in one go. Harry kept staring at him, a pink flush to his cheeks and eyes slightly glazed. “Delicious.”

“One scene I definitely did not miss this month,” Gemma said loudly as if to announce her arrival. Harry cleared his throat and procured the piping bag from Louis and concentrated on the cookie, and not on his sister’s knowing glance. She was aware of Harry’s crush on Louis, mainly because she was the first person he ran to and confessed. She had just laughed, calling him oblivious before assured him that Louis definitely loved him back. He hadn’t told her that she was right, because well, she would surely gloat about it and announce it to everyone else. Harry was waiting for the right moment. “But I did miss the cookies. Can I have one?”

“No,” Harry said while Louis said “sure” before looking at him quizzically.

“He gets to eat it,” Gemma pointed out, raising her eyebrows and Harry blushed, raising one shoulder in an aborted shrug. “Why not me?”

“Because I um –” Harry started to protest before swallowing his words. He shook his head, pushing his bottom lip out. “Because he’s my best friend and you’re not.”

“Please,” she deadpanned and rolled her eyes, walking closer before grabbing one cookie for herself. She gave Harry a challenging look and the latter sighed without stopping her. She grinned triumphantly as she took a bite, and Harry scowled back, before looking back down. He could see Louis grinning at him from the corner of his eyes. “Also, congratulations you two. I’m glad the mistletoe plan worked out. I was beginning to think that I would have had to corner Louis myself and talk to him. Ta, guys.”

Harry’s head snapped up as he gaped at her in surprise before exchanging a questioning look with Louis, who looked just as baffled.

“Who told you that?” Harry asked, and Gemma chuckled.

“Niall of course,” she replied, turning around to wink at him. “He was very happy and decided to send me a message on Facebook. Strange guy.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Harry muttered under his breath and both Louis and Gemma laughed, the later exiting the kitchen to go... somewhere. Louis merely draped himself across Harry’s back and rose up on his tiptoes to kiss Harry’s shoulder.

“No you won’t,” he said and Harry chuckled. He wouldn’t. Rather, he just turned around rested his hip against the counter, raising his eyebrows at Louis. His boyfriend got his message, grinning wolfishly before pressing their lips together. If that's how Harry’s mother found them, well, they didn’t care. They weren’t trying their hardest to maintain a secret.

Harry did find another thing to add to his list of things he loved about Christmas – it got Louis and him together. That might trump every other thing.

**

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it.  
> Kudos and comments are appreciated.  
> I'm on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/rainbowslovehl) come and say hi (oops!)


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